maintenance

name	maintenance
description	Use to remove dead code, duplication, indirection, or unnecessary complexity while preserving behavior.

This skill defines the maintenance phase. Use the `maintainer` agent when a bounded cleanup can proceed independently; otherwise work locally. Produce behavior-preserving simplification with before-and-after evidence.

Use lifecycle-documentation only when the result needs a durable artifact or handoff.

Make the code smaller. Remove dead code, cut duplication and needless indirection, and simplify — without changing behavior.

Prefer deletion over rewriting. Make the smallest diff. If a cut alters behavior, it's out of scope — revert it.

When complexity comes from a cluster of rules, exceptions, adapters, or workarounds, run find-simplifying-insight before doing local cleanup. Accept a deeper model change only when it preserves behavior, makes a novel prediction, and survives a decisive test.

What to cut

• Dead code — unused functions, exports, branches, variables.
• Duplication — repeated logic that can collapse.
• Needless indirection — layers and abstractions that earn nothing: indirection that adds coupling without improving cohesion or hiding a decision.
• Over-configuration — options and flexibility nobody uses.

The rule

Behavior must not change. Prove it with the verify command before and after. Report net lines removed and one line per file changed.